News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-10-20
THE LONDON COSTERMONGER.
\ ROugh-and-Ready Character of
the British Metropolis.

The London costermonger generally
wears a fixed kind of dress His hat is
always a black derby, rusty from rain
and weather. His coat is generally a
rusty black frock. He rarely wears
waistcoat. His trousers may be cordu
roy or any kind of the cheaper wooden
patterns. His shoes are thick soled and
hobnailed. he always wears colOred
place of collar. These handkerchiefs
are always dirty, except upon rare Sun
day and holiday occasions, when new
ties are donned. These handkerchiefs
are always of fanciful color, light blue
and red being the favorites. They are
worn high up on the neck, leaving
couple of inches of dirty neck showing
between the handkerchief AMI the greasy
collar of the shambling frock coat. The
handkerchief is really the badge of the
order. This handkerchief about the
neck designates the character and stand
ing of man in England as completely
and thoroughly as if he wore a uniform
prescribed by act of Parliament. The
costermongers are men engaged IN street
traffic of all kinds They are generally
dealers in vegetables. They begin with
push-carts, and if they are prosperous
and reach the climax of their ambition
they become the owners of small two
wheeled wagons, drawn by little don
KEYS or ponies. The strength and en-
durance of these small animals are phe-
nomenal. [ have seen from six to eight
grown people on costermonger's cart
being drawn at furious pace by pony
not much larger than a good Newfound-
land dog.
The costermonger never gives his
pony anv rest. He works him during
the week in his business and uses the
wretched little animal on Sunday to give
his friends a treat in the shape OF ride
to some cockney resort III the SUBURBS
The costermongers live Ill the street.
They are never indoors except Tor eat
ing and sleeping. A very severe, drlv-
inc storm will sometimes force them
into the house, but they generally take
refuge under an awning or some gate
way. They are hardy, tough, coarse
fibred people. They are noisy and have
a perfect passion for scenes of uDroar
and excitement. You rarely hear OF
costermongers numbering any of their
associates or of their using knives or
pistols in their quarrels. They have a
way of pounding and kicking each other
when engaged in dispute, but are rarely
arrested, us they never seem to carry
malice, and their fights generally wind
up in a good -natured way, The coster-
monger and his female are very often
the chief actors i'll street brawl. When
once costermonger has begun to keep
company with costermOnger female,
then she is considered his property.
She speaks of him as her man and she
is spoken of as his ''gal." l saw a dis
pute the other day between n coster-
monger and his sweetheart which was
fairly illustrative of their method of
settling disputes in public.
1t was Sunday morning. The two
had started out evidently for holiday.
He was in his best. He was a surly,
heavy-iawed fellow, with black eyes, n
short nose and brawny, hairy fists. He
wore little black derby hat tabout three
sizes too small for his groatround head.
His handkerchief was the lightest of
slzv-blues. She was buXom, burly, of
medium height, dressed i'll true coster-
monger style. Their dispute grew out
of difference of opinion as to where